1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for registering images on a storage medium and, in particular, to a method of entering index information on the registered images in such an apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
To preserve storage space for documents, etc., produced in great quantities, it has conventionally been the practice to store the image information contained therein on microfilms, magnetic/opto-magnetic discs, etc.
From the viewpoint of information management, it is necessary to enter an index corresponding to the items of information thus stored so that the information may be easily accessed (retrieved) later on. Conventionally, the operation of preparing such an index has required an enormous amount of time.
As a means of avoiding this problem, a system is known, according to which code information serving as an index is imparted to the documents stored. The code information is read by a scanner, with the documents being photographed at the same time.
The scanner used may, for example, be a bar code scanner for reading bar codes, an MICR for reading magnetic characters, or an OCR for reading ordinary characters.
FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a simple example of an apparatus to which the above conventional method is applied.
In this apparatus, original sheets 100, each equipped with a bar code as index information, are conveyed by a feeding means consisting of rollers 101, 102 and 103 and a belt 104 toward a discharge tray 108. The above index information is read by a bar code scanner 105, and the image of an original sheet which has reached a photographing section 106 is photographed by a camera 107 so as to be recorded on a microfilm.
The index information thus read is transferred to a computer.
As shown in FIGS. 28A and 28B, the index information is recorded on the computer memory in such a manner that the items of index information respectively representing the original sheets have a one to one correspondence to the numbers of frames 110 of a microfilm 109. By using the index data thus recorded on the memory, a desired image frame in the microfilm can be easily and definitely retrieved later on.
An example of a conventional device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,621.
Apart from the above example, an electronic filing apparatus which employs a CCD as the image reading device for the photographing section and an optical disc as the recording device has recently been attracting attention.
FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing a simple example of an apparatus using an optical disc.
In this apparatus, a bar code 111, imparted to a text 110, is read by a pen-type scanner 112. The bar code data thus read is displayed on a display terminal 115 equipped with a keyboard. If the bar code proves unreadable, the data contained therein is manually entered at the display terminal 115.
Then, an image scanner 113 reads the image of the document. The image information thus read is stored in a memory 114 and, at the same time, displayed on the display terminal 115. The index information, which has been read by the scanner 112 or manually entered, is simultaneously displayed on this display.
The operator verifies the displayed data and depresses a "verification" key, thereby causing a predetermined image processing operation (such as edge emphasis or data compression) to be performed in a processing circuit 116, and thus the image data and the index data are recorded on an optical disc 117.
In another construction, the recording of the data is effected separately; e.g., the image data is recorded on the optical disc, and the index data is recorded on some other recording medium (e.g., a floppy disc).
By using this index data, a desired image can be easily and definitely retrieved out of the optical disc later on.
A problem with the above prior-art techniques is that the speed of the entire data processing depends on the speed of the paper handling operations, including the reading of bar codes. Thus, a substantial improvement in the data processing capacity for original texts cannot be expected even if the image scanning speed is increased. Accordingly, the above prior-art techniques are not suited for mass data processing.
Further, in a case when original texts can be conveyed successively, any error in code reading causes the system operation to be interrupted, necessitating restoring (re-inputting) by the operator. Thus, the operator has to constantly keep an eye on the apparatus.
Determination as to whether or not the data obtained through bar code reading by the scanner is correct can be made with an improved level of reliability by adopting one of the following methods:
(1) Scanning a bar code two or more times, the data being regarded as correct when scanning results agree with each other;
(2) Scanning a bar code three or more times, the data being regarded as correct when the results of two consecutive scannings agree with each other; and
(3) Scanning a bar code three or more times, the data being determined on the basis of majority logic.
With most high speed scanners, however, data is determined with a single scanning, resulting in a rather low level of reliability or correctness in data reading.
Thus, with conventional scanners, a satisfactory level of reliability in data reading cannot be expected in the case of high speed data processing. A satisfactory level of reliability cannot be attained without decreasing the processing speed.